Freedom Fighter
Chapter six: Open your world
Tadashi stumbled through the hall, Gogo just nearly keeping him on his feet. "Just breathe!" She said as she steered him passed all the moving people. The man struggled to keep air in his lungs long enough to replenish him. "Woman up and breathe, nerd."
She set him down behind his desk. He stared blankly at the wall. "I can't believe it." He said in awe. "It works. It works!" Gogo popped her gum and stared at him through hooded eyes. "Am I supposed to be surprised?" Tadashi combed his fingers through the knots in his hair and leaned back in the chair. "We got the mission, Gogo! We're going to go into the field!"
Gogo didn't look too pleased about that. "Are you sure you're ready for this? You're not really well, ready for the field. If you hadn't noticed yet, nerd, you're a desk jockey. I can't imagine you as the hero who saves the day." She leaned against his desk and stared straight into those extremely excited eyes that nearly vibrated with ebullience.
"Come on, Gogo, we're one step closer to bringing down the illegal trafficking ring! You have to admit that this is pretty exciting."
"The fact that your motivation is structured by a single person still unsettles me. I know he's your brother and everything, but-"
"This isn't just about Hiro," Tadashi cut her off, which was very uncharacteristic of him. Gogo stood there, momentarily shocked by his behaviour. Maybe she shouldn't have treaded on thin ice. Hiro was a touchy subject. Even though she didn't know the small boy, or ever met him, she knew enough to know that the brothers were close. Incredibly close.
Tadashi continued, "This is also about saving all those missing children's lives. Many families were wretched into two when the biosynthetic technology took to the air. Lives were ruined and crushed under those people's cruelty." His eyes became sad and the jovial shine vanished entirely.
Gogo felt somewhat bad for dampening his mood. She didn't show it, no no, but she felt it in her heart- it was a pang that soiled and stained her and made her feel absolutely nasty. Tadashi's eyes glowed with new determination, the type she only got to see when he set his mind to something. The type of glow that filled her with pride.
"We've got work to do. First I'll have to get Baymax ready and then I have to have him scan all the suspected areas and if any of them show any-"
BANG!
Tadashi jumped as the door banged open, Gogo's hand reached for the gun on her belt, her muscles tightening. She narrowed her eyes at the man who stood out of breath in the office's threshold. He straightened and after two breaths of air he went deathly still. Stared at Tadashi, dead in the eye, and spoke.
"A distress call was received from a ship not far off shore. Docking of the carrier will be in approximately three hours. Suspicious activity was reported. Caution was recommended,"
Tadashi tipped his head to the side. "What does that have to do with me?" He turned his chair to face the man and sat on its edge. Gogo shifted weight, her hand leaving her gun and her arms crossing while glaring at the man. She leaned back against the desk. Though she might have looked chilled she was still on guard- you never know what could happen.
"The ship came from Chicago. Two strangers were reported being seen boarding with mysterious crates and even more mysterious content. We suspect illegal hybrid transportation. The details were sketchy."
"What?!" Tadashi jumped to his feet. Gogo also snapped to attention. "Get a squad ready! I want an ETD of that ships location and where it's going to dock! We need to get someone to scope the area and set up possible ambush points! If this is real we might be able to crack down some of the flow of hybrid-fighting."
The man was gone in a flash as soon as Tadashi stopped giving orders. Gogo stared at her friend. Seriousness encased his expression and he stared at where Baymax was stored. "I programmed him to scan for anything out of the ordinary, but his main priority is healthcare. Looks like you won't be needed for this one, maybe another time, buddy." She looked at the folded up marsh mellow robot.
"I'd like to be there when that balloon saves lives. It'd be pretty awesome to see." Tadashi nodded. No one had actually seen Baymax in action before; he wanted to save that honour for a special someone he had in mind...
"Let's go go go. We need to move. There's no time to waste." Tadashi nodded his head and turned around, but Gogo was already gone. He was alone in the office. He took a deep breath to steady himself. Getting his head in the game was the first step to a successful mission.
"Breath."
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There were no flashing lights, no sirens and no warning. The ship was heading their way. They could see the large mass being aired as a small dot in the distance, but it was there. All the officers held their breath in anticipation as the boat came closer.
They were hidden in the darkness, armed with weapons and tazers. Force was only to be used if necessary. Nobody was to get hurt. Casualties were supposed to be kept at a low.
Tadashi knew that trying to do that would be like trying to pull an elephant through a needle; but if they could keep deaths at a zero, that would be just perfect. His heart beat a mile a minute and his breath escaped his mouth in clouds. He was afraid that the criminals might see his breath, so he would hold it for as long as possible before exhaling slowly.
It didn't work, because, he realized, he would have to breathe eventually and there was no escaping the puffed air. He shivered again and pulled his coat tighter around him. He should have brought another jacket, or at least have put on a sweater. The pitiless winter stole souls from anyone caught without warmth.
From his vantage point in the rafters he could see Gogo peering around a large metallic crate, her gun in her hand. Tadashi closed his eyes and willed the image to look less scary. Seeing his friend with a weapon was alarming, but he was just glad she was one of the good guys and knew how to work the thing.
She wouldn't shoot to kill. She would never do that. Why he was ever worried about that was beyond his understanding. The other officers were in the loading yard, situated behind the huge metallic crates armed to the toes. They were going to have to come through here, the criminals, so that was why their best officers (and himself) were situated in the warehouse, but if they managed to make it passed them and escape between the crates and carriers, there were officers to stop them in their tracks.
Everything was meticulously planned by yours truly. And he was only going to watch from on high. There wasn't a soul alive who could have convinced or forced him to stay back at the station. This was his mission. This was what he wanted to do since he stepped into training academy. He wasn't about to back down or allow anyone to keep him from his goals.
Tadashi was determined.
The ship came closer. "Estimated time of arrival: T minus three minutes." The communicator in his watch buzzed. Tadashi stared as all the officers prepared themselves. Their muscles tensed and he could literally feel the adrenaline in the air as it pulsed through everyone's veins.
He, too, took a deep breath and held it in, counting the seconds as they ticked by. At 1 minute 12 seconds he blew out his breath. That was the longest he had ever held his breath before in his life. Could he hold it for longer? Only one way to find out...
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The crew stretched their bones and muscles. The cold had crimped down on them and seized their spines, causing them to stiffen and protest with each and every movement they made.
The ship moved in slowly, the rotors whirring lethargically to a stop beneath the deadly waves. The docks were empty and all the lights were out, which was weird.
Finally the ship stopped and dropped anchor. Large ropes were tied to posts and a platform was laid out. First on deck were the two strangers, who ducked into darkness, the crew glanced at them curiously, some only seeing them for the first time.
They didn't stare long and just got to work. Some of them wanted to get out of the cold as fast as possible. Who could blame them?
They lifted the heavy crates and carried them off one by one. It was a slow process, but they were making progress. The crates were heavy and the sweat soon replaced the shivers. One by one the cargo was removed and the deck became emptier and more barren.
The two strangers emerged from their hiding place in the shadows. They walked as casually as they could manage over to their precious cargo. The leader ducked behind the crate and tapped his iPhone.
"Yeah, we've reached port. Hurry. Yeah, I know we arrived earlier- a bribe can go a long way- just get the bloody transport over here!. No," He glanced at his companion from around the corner, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "We didn't run into any difficulties, we'll, nothing we can't handle. Just hurry up!"
Having confirmed the details he locked his screen and nodded to his lackey. Half the loading was already done and if their cargo was the only one's remaining it would look awfully suspicious. Well, more than it already did.
Some crew members were already looking at them funny and questioning their presence. The sooner they got out of here the better. With some effort they lifted the crates and loaded them onto a wheelie. They loaded all the crates on, which weren't even that many, and pushed it slowly down the ramp. The captain stopped them halfway down, his hand squeezing the male's shoulder hard.
"What did you do? Someone broke into the communications room, the door is practically blown to bits! If I find out you had something to do with-" The man rolled his eyes and smiled warmly. "Let go of my shoulder, old man." The captain narrowed his eyes but didn't move a bit.
The leader's expression fell and he removed a concealed weapon. He pointed the gun right at the man's chest. "When worse comes to worse-" He pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The man fell to the ground. Instantly lights flared up from all sides and bathed everyone in sharp white. He reached up and covered his eyes from the blinding radiance. His henchman did the same and in the process let go of his grip on the gurney. The thing fell to the side, off the ramp and onto the ground at the bottom. The crates rolled to a halt.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the sharp contrast and his glaring orbs rested on the figures running up and surrounding him. He scanned the area. All the crew members were being arrested, cuffs being slapped onto their wrists. And he decided he wasn't going to be one of them.
He lifted his gun and shouted. "You can't put a leash on The Beast!" With a triumphant roar he shot bullets blindly into the light. Gunfire followed his shots and the pistol in his hand was deftly shot out. The man grabbed at his hand and glared into the darkness.
A woman with purple highlighted hair emerged from the gloom. She narrowed her eyes and popped her gum. "You are arrested on grounds of illegal transportation of unregistered items. You have the right to remain silent everything you say-"
"You shot my hand you bit-"
Gogo rolled her eyes and fired. The tazer strings shot out and made the man spasm. He fell to the floor, still twitching. She popped her gum again while looking at the man, obviously bored. "Check the boat for any crew and get a medical team to check out the captain."
She knew he was dead, but it would be wise to check any way. Miracles happened, didn't they? A team rushed passed her and ran up the walkway to inspect the boat as ordered. Gogo decided to stay behind. Someone picked the criminal up and slapped cuffs onto his filthy wrists.
He glared at her as he was pushed passed. He spat at her, but she sidestepped the juvenile act and deftly sheathed her gun and tazer. She watched as they forced him into the police vehicle and drove away shortly after. "One less scumbag to worry about."
Gogo smiled as Tadashi approached. He wore an equally huge smile. He hugged her suddenly and she stiffened immediately. Her eyes went wide, but after a few seconds she hugged him back, patting his back reassuringly.
"See, I told you nothing bad was going to happen. Everything is going to be okay, another bad person was taken off the streets and it's all thanks to your help!"
Tadashi smiled again and shivered as the wind blew from the sea and crept between their clothes. Bewildered eyes watched as they carried the old man to the ambulance and loaded him on. He wasn't in a body bag... that was a good sign right? But as the ambulance pulled away silently.
Sirens don't cry for dead men.
Tadashi shook his head to clear it of any morbid thoughts. They were supposed to celebrate! They had just busted a man for probable... Tadashi's eyes widened and he nearly collapsed. How could he forget?! The crates! The hybrids!
"Open them!" He shouted, letting go of his friend who looked at him with confused eyes. "To what purpose are they-"
"Open every single crate! Don't leave any one undone!" Tadashi ordered. The officers jumped into action, seeking pry bars.
"Yeah, there's nothing in there but rare collectable comics and action figures." The activity ceased and all attention turned to a bum-looking dude who was being marched down the ramp. His escorts pressed the small of his back and kept him moving forward.
He was also cuffed and a larger male was being escorted not far behind him. Both looked distraught. Well, actually it was only the black one who looked a little bedraggled; the skinnier dude who looked like he hadn't showered in a while was quite chill.
"Who are you and what were you doing on that ship?"
"The name's Fred and I'm a major Comic enthusiast! But I don't do the illegal thing, because that's kinda... you know, illegal?"
"Check all the crates anyway!" The officers jumped back into action, grabbing whatever they could find and started cracking open lids. Fred stood there under Tadashi's watchful, curious gaze.
"Do I know you from somewhere? I could have sworn I've seen your picture in the paper before..."
Fred shrugged. "Probably, I don't know, I don't really care." He watched as the officers checked every crate that was put into the warehouse. Every single one opened revealed only comics and strong dudes wearing their underwear the wrong way. Tadashi looked crestfallen and downcast.
That was, until they stumbled across the abandoned crates lying on the ground. And by the look on the arrested man's face he had no idea what these crates were or what was in them.
"That's not mine, I swear!" He shook his head in emphasis. An officer handed Tadashi a crowbar and he stepped forward, still eyeing Fred curiously. He pressed the steel into wood and heaved. Light flooded into the darkened crate...
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"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
-Nelson Mandela.
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